Seeking HP Fanfic Readers for Survey

[Kate Tanski]

Hello!

I am seeking HP Fanfic readers to take the time to answer this (not
very brief) survey on Harry Potter fanfiction. This questionnaire is
part of a project I am conducting about the reading habits and
preferences of people who read Harry Potter fanfiction and their
involvement with the Harry Potter fandom and other fandoms online. Feel
free to skip any questions which you do not want to answer. Please send
all replies to tanskik at lawrence.edu 

Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Katherine Tanski
Lawrence University

1. How long have you been in the Harry Potter fandom?

a. 6 months or less.
b. 6 months to a year.
c. One to two years.
d. More than two years

2. At what age did you first begin reading fanfiction 

a. 5-9 years.
b. 10-14 years.
c. 15-19 years.
d. 20-24 years.
e. 25-29 years.
f. 30-34 years.
g. 35 or older.

3. How long were you in the fandom before you started writing
fanfiction?

a. Less than three months.
b. Three to six months.
c. I always wrote fanfiction. That's how I got involved in the fandom. 
d. I don't write fanfiction. 

4. Do you consider yourself to be part of other fandoms?

a. Yes.
b. No.

5. If yes, which fandoms do you consider yourself to be a part of?

6. Do you write fanfiction for these other fandoms? If so, which?

7. Were you involved in these other fandoms before Harry Potter?

8. If yes, how did you discover Harry Potter Fanfiction?

9. Do you beta (in any fandom)?

a. Yes.
b. No.

10. How many fics do you beta for?

a. 1-2.
b. 3-5.
c. 5-10.
d. 10 or more.

11. How long have you betaed?

a. 6 months or less.
b. 6 months to a year.
c. 1-2 years.
d. 2-4 years.
e. 4 years or more.

12. How many Harry Potter fanfics do you read each week?

a. 1-4.
b. 5-9.
c. 10-14.
d. 15-19.
e. 20-24.
f. 25 or more.

13. About how many fanfics other than Harry Potter do you read each
week?

a. None.
b. 1-4.
c. 5-9.
d. 10 or more.

14. What kinds of fanfiction besides Harry Potter do you read? (List
all that apply)

a. None.
b. Anime.
c. TV Series.
d. Film.
e. Fantasy.
f. Original Fiction.
g. Real People.
h. Literature (Other than Harry Potter).
i. Other (please specify).

15. Do you read every day?

a. Yes.
b. No.
c. No, but I would if I could.

16. About how many hours per week do you read?

a. 1-5 hours.
b. 6-10 hours.
c. 11-15 hours.
d. 16-20 hours.
e. 21 hours or more.

17. Which of the following best describes your reading pattern?

a. I read mostly in the morning.
b. I read mostly during the day while working around the house.
c. I read mostly during lunchtime.
d. I read mostly in the afternoon.
e. I read mostly while traveling to and from work.
f. I read mostly in the evening.
g. I read just before going to sleep.
h. It's hard to say when I do most of my reading since I read every
chance I get.

18. Which of the following best describes what you usually do once
you've begun a fanfic?

a. I only continue reading it when I'm in the mood.
b. I read a little bit each day until I'm done.
c. I read as much of it as I can until I'm interrupted or have
something else to do.
d. I won't stop reading until I've finished it unless it's absolutely
necessary.

19. How often do you discuss fanfiction with others?

a. Never.
b. Rarely.
c. Sometimes.
d. Often.

20. Who do you discuss fanfiction with most often?

a. My parents.
b. My siblings.
c. My Real Life Friends.
d. People I know Online.
e. Other (please specify).

21. How often do you re-read fanfiction you've already read?

a. Never.
b. Rarely.
c. Sometimes.
d. Often.

22. Which of the following kinds of fanfiction do your read? List all
that apply. 

a. Het.
b. Slash.
c. Humor/Parody.
d. Gen (non pairing).
e. PWP.
f. Other.

23. Which of the following kinds of fanfiction is your favorite? Please
pick only one.

a. Het.
b. Slash.
c. Humor/Parody.
d. Gen (non pairing).
e. PWP.
f. Other.

24. Which of the following best describes what usually makes you decide
to read a fanfic or not?

a. I like the Pairing/Main Character.
b. I have already read something by the author and liked it.
c. I like the title.
d. The rating (R, NC-17, etc).
e. Someone else recommended it to me.
f. Other (please specify).

25. How do you find out about new fanfics most often?

a. FictionAlley Park.
b. LiveJournals/Blogs.
c. Mailing Lists.
d. Other websites (please specify which).
e. On my own.
f. Other (please specify).

26. Which of the following best describes what you do when you realize
you don't like a fanfic that you have already begun reading?

a. I stop reading and never finish it.
b. I read the ending to see how it came out.
c. I always finish it even if I don't like it.

27. Which of the following best describes your opinion on completed
fanfics versus WIPs?

a. I will never read a fanfic unless it's completed.
b. It does not matter to me if a fanfic is completed or not.
c. I get upset if a fanfic is not completed.
d. I will email/talk to the author of a fanfic that is not completed to
ask them to complete it.
e. I prefer reading fanfiction as it comes out chapter by chapter.

28. Which of the following do you feel should never be included in a
fanfic? Please select three and rank them in order of most distasteful
to second most distasteful and so on.

a. Rape.
b. Explicit sex.
c. Sad Ending.
d. Physical torture of main character.
e. Mary Sue/Marty Stu characters.
f. Incest
g. Metafictionality (i.e. fics that make reference to the fact that
they are a fic, or to other fics, or to the world outside of fic
writing).
h. Underage sex.
i. OOCness.
j. Other (Please specify).

29. What are the three most important ingredients in a fanfic? Please
pick the three which you think are essential and rank them in order
from most important ingredient to second most important and so on.

a. A happy ending.
b. Lots of scenes of explicit sexual description.
c. Lots of detail about the world of J.K. Rowling.
d. A slowly but consistently developing love between the main character
and the love interest.
e. A setting in a particular time period (MWPP, Post-War, 5th year,
etc.).
f. A particular kind of pairing (het or slash).
g. Character growth/development
h. Proper English/Grammar.
i. Plot
j. Other (please specify).

30. Which character from Harry Potter do you mainly read fanfiction
about? You may list up to three.

a. Harry Potter.
b. Draco Malfoy.
c. Ron Weasley.
d. Hermione Granger.
e. Ginny Weasley.
f. Severus Snape.
g. Remus Lupin.
h. Sirius Black.
i. Other Weasleys (The Twins, Percy, Charlie, Bill).
j. Lucius Malfoy.
k. Tom Riddle.
l. Voldemort.
m. Other Wizarding adults (Narcissa Malfoy, Peter Pettigrew, Gilderoy
Lockhart).
n. Other Professors from Hogwarts (Dumbledore, McGonagall, Sinistra,
Hooch, Hagrid).
o. Other Students from Hogwarts (Oliver Wood, Pansy Parkinson, Cho
Chang, Seamus Finnigan, Neville Longbottom).
p. The Dursleys.
q. Other (please specify).
r. I don't read for particular characters.

31. Which pairing from Harry Potter do you mainly read fanfiction
about?

a. I don't read for a particular pairing.
b. Anything Het.
c. Anything Slash.
d. Anything with a certain character (please specify which character).
e. H/Hr.
f . R/Hr.
g. H/G.
h. D/G.
i. H/R.
j. H/D.
k. HP/SS.
l. RL/SB.

32. Do you consider yourself a ___

a. Slasher.
b. Het Person.
c. Not aligned to either one side or the other.

33. Do you consider yourself belonging to a community revolving around
a specific pairing? 

a. Yes. (Please specify).
b. No.

34. Which of the following best describes your attitude to the way the
stories are told?

a. I like stories to be told by the main character, in first person.
b. I dislike stories which are told by the main character, in first
person, but I will read them sometimes. 
c. I won't read a story if it is told by the main character, in first
person. 
d. I have no preference about the perspective the story is written
from, whether it be a narrator, the main character, or using other
stylistic methods (e.g. only dialogue).

35. How closely do you think the characters in fanfiction resemble
their Canon counterparts?

a. They are not at all similar.
b. They are somewhat similar.
c. They are very similar.
d. They are almost identical.

36. How closely do you think the characters in fanfiction resemble the
people you meet in real life?
a. They are not at all similar.
b. They are somewhat similar.
c. They are very similar.
d. They are almost identical.

37. Which of the following reasons best describe why you read
fanfiction? Please pick the three reasons which are closest to your
reasons and rank them from the most important to the third most
important.

a. To escape my daily problems.
b. For simple relaxation.
c. Because reading is just for me. It is my time.
d. Because reading is at least better than other kinds of escape.
e. For intellectual stimulation.
f. Other (please specify).

38. What are your three favorite fanfics? Please give the titles in
order.

39. Who are your three favorite authors? Please list them in order.

40. What is your sex?

a. Female.
b. Male.

41. In what age group are you?

a. Under 15.
b. 15-18.
c. 19-22.
d. 23-27.
e. 28-35.
f. 35 or older.

42. What is your current marital status?

a. Single.
b. Long Term Relationship.
c. Married.

43. What is your sexual preference?

a. Heterosexual.
b. Bisexual.
c. Homosexual.

44. Do you have any children?

a. Yes.
b. No.

45. What is your current status?

a. Working full-time.
b. Working part-time.
c. Have a job but not at work because of illness, strike, or vacation.
d. Unemployed or looking for work.
e. In school (or on summer vacation).
f. Keeping house.
g. Retired.

46. If you have a full- or part-time job, what is your occupation or
job title?

47. How many years of education have you completed?

a. Some high school.
b. High school graduate.
c. Some college.
d. College graduate.
e. Some graduate work.
f. Master's degree.
g. Ph.D.

48. Do you believe that fanfiction is illegal?

a. Yes.
b. No.
c. Maybe. 

49. If J.K. Rowling prosecuted people who wrote fanfiction, would you
continue to support fanfiction?

a. Yes.
b. No.
c. Maybe.

50. How do you feel about fan merchandising i.e. The FAP CafePress
shops?

a. I have bought/would buy merchandise from such a shop.
b. I would not buy merchandise from such a shop, but I would not
discourage others who wanted to from buying merchandise.
c. I would not buy merchandise from such a shop, and I would discourage
others from buying merchandise. 


Thank you for your time (and effort).



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